Standard Grade Computing Studies
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
Name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Class: . . .
Bishopbriggs Academy
Contents:
CDP1 – Need for Commercial Data Processing
What is commercial data Processing?
Manual system of CDP
Advantages of using a computer for CDP
CDP 2 – Hardware and Software
The hardware used for CDP
Typical applications used in CDP
CDP 3 – The Data Processing Cycle
The three elements in the data processing cycle
The difference between data and information
CDP 4 – Data collection, preparation and input
Data collection and preparation
Common forms of data preparation
Checking data for errors
Mid-Unit Questions
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CDP 5 – Data Processing, storage and output
Interactive Processing
Random (or direct) access
Multi-user access
Data output
Making backups
Sequential access
CDP 6 – Social Implications
Effects on business
Job and career opportunities
Computer crime
CDP7 – Technical and Economic Implications
E-commerce
Costs
The mass market
CDP 8 – Security and Privacy Implications
The need to keep data accurate and private
Physical and software security measures
The use of customer lists
End of Unit Questions
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CDP1 – Need for Commercial Data Processing
In this chapter you will learn
• What is Commercial Data Processing?
• Manual system of CDP
• Advantages of using a computer for CDP
What is a Commercial Data Processing (CDP)?
Commercial Data Processing is the large scale
processing of data by organisations such are banks,
insurance companies, the civil service, shops, etc.
The tasks carried out will include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cash withdrawals from a bank cash machine (ATM)
Calculating and printing invoices
Calculating and printing bank statements
Calculating and printing customer receipts in supermarkets
Processing Internet and mail orders
Processing insurance renewals
Dealing with direct debits from bank accounts
Paying pensions
Dealing with the company payroll
Processing exam results
These tasks all have three things in common
• They involve simple calculations
• They are repetitive
• They have to be carried out a huge number of times.
This makes them ideal to be carried out by a computer.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Manual system of CDP
Before the introduction of computers and the Internet these
tasks would have been carried out manually. That is by
people!
All information was recorded on paper records and stored in
filing cabinets. These cabinets took up a huge amount of
space.
Thousands of people were employed to type up invoices, type
reminder letters to clients to renew policies and calculate
and count out workers pay.
Bank balances were written by pen in ‘pass-books’. Pensions
and benefits were counted out by hand and benefit books
stamped as a record.
Problems can occur when people have to deal with large
amounts of information:
• Dealing with these processes is very slow as all
handwriting had to be neat and legible. People would
often make errors.
• Each letter and invoice had to be typed from the start
each time. Mistakes meant letters and invoices would
have to be retyped.
• Sometimes a paper record would be put back in the
wrong place and be ‘lost’ leading to delays.
• If one person had removed a record then no-one else
could see that record until it had been returned – only
one person could use a record at one time. If a record
could not be found then records were duplicated
wasting more time and space.
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Advantages of using a computer for CDP
Millions of processes are carried out every day by large
commercial organisations – most without error.
Today, this is only possible by the use of very large, fast and
powerful computers.
The use of large fast computers allows:
• vast amounts data to be accessed and processed at very
high speed. For example: a thousand people can
connect and use one computer at the same time without
any loss in access or processing speed.
• the simple calculations, which make up most of the
processing, to be carried out at high speed.
• repetitive tasks, such as calculating and printing
invoices or bank statements to be carried out accurately
and quickly.
• huge amounts of data to be stored in a small space.
• more than one person access to a file at the same time
so there is no need to duplicate information.
• information to be analysed to produce management
reports such as financial information showing the
profit or loss of a company. Sales information
showing which items are selling best and which need to
be put on special offer to get rid of them. Customer
information showing contact details and records of
their custom.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Homework / Written Exercise 1
1
What does CDP stand for?
C____________ D_____ P____________
2
Use these words to complete the following sentences:
processing
fast
access
data
small
calculations paper banks
many
powerful
calculations shared repeated person manual
filing cabinets slow
a)
CDP is the large scale ___________ of ______ by
organisations such as _____, shops, etc.
b)
CDP involves simple ___________, which are
_________ frequently.
c)
In a ________ system all information is recorded
on ________ and stored in ________ ________.
d)
Manual data processing is ______.
e)
In a manual system only one _______ can access the
data at a time.
f)
CDP needs a very ____ and _________ computer.
g)
This computer is ________ between many people.
h)
Huge amounts of data can be stored in a _____ space.
i)
In a computerised system, ____ people can _______
the same data at the same time.
3
Describe how each of the following helps a company:
(Credit)
i)
ii)
iii)
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Financial information
Sales information
Customer Information
Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
CDP2 – Hardware and software
In this chapter you will learn
• what hardware is used for CDP
• the typical applications used in CDP
The hardware used for CDP
Desktop computers are not nearly fast enough or powerful
enough to cope with the vast amount of data used by large
companies’ commercial data processing.
Large commercial companies all use mainframe
computers to process their data.
Mainframe computers are designed to be able to take input
from many operators (possibly thousands) at the same time.
This huge amount of data being fed into them also means
that they must be able to store, access and output data
much more quickly than any desktop computer.
A typical commercial set-up is shown below:
Magnetic Tape Units
Hard Disc Units
Terminals
Central Processing Unit
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
High Speed
Printer
Terminals
7
The main parts of a Mainframe Computer
1
The Central Processing Unit
The processor is capable of carrying out
1000’s of millions of operations every second.
Fast enough to allow 1000’s of operators to use
it at the same time. It is usually fitted with
several gigabytes of memory. (1 gigabyte =
1,000,000,000 bytes)
2
Hard Disc Unit
A backing store capable of holding several
terabytes with very fast random access. (1
terabyte = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes) The
hard discs may be fixed or be able to be
removed. A Mainframe System will have
several of these connected to it.
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Magnetic Tape Unit
A backing store capable of holding several
terabytes for sequential access (in order).
The tapes are always able to be removed. A
Mainframe System will also have several of
these connected to it.
Note:
The Hard Disc Unit and the Magnetic Tape Unit
have the same capacity - they differ only in how the data is
accessed.
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4
Terminal
A combination of keyboard and Visual
Display Unit.
Note: this has no processing power,
memory or backing store of its own. All
processing is completed in the Central
Processing Unit. It is a simple input/output
device. A Mainframe System may have
hundreds or even thousands of these
connected to it.
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High Speed Printer
An output device capable of printing 100’s of
pages every minute. Often, these are High
Speed Laser Printers.
Typical applications used in CDP
The most common software applications used in CDP are
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stock control
Payroll
Accounting
Order processing
Application form processing
Customer contacts
Most of these applications depend on using a database.
These databases may be made up of several connected files.
Each file may have millions of records. Each record may
have hundreds of fields to hold all of the data.
An advantage of using connected files is that data only needs
to be entered once, but then used many times by the
connections to the other files.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Homework / Written Exercise 2
1
Complete the following sentences using these words:
fields
terminals
input
output
speed
hard
applications unit
records
central
tape
mainframe
high
keyboard drives
hard
processor
screen
memory backing
disc
connected
a)
Large companies use __________ computers to
process their data.
b)
These large computers are designed to take _____
from many users at the same time.
c)
A typical computer system will be made up of:
d)
i)
T_________
ii)
H _____ _______ printers
iii)
T____ drives
iv)
H______ ______ _____
v)
C_________ Processor U_____
A terminal is a simple input and ______ device
made up of a ________ and a _______. It has no
_________, ________ or _____ store.
e)
Most ___________ in CDP are based on a database.
f)
The database is made up of _________ files made up
of many ________ each containing many ____.
2
10
Why are ‘connected’ files used in the database? (Credit)
Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
CDP3 – The Data Processing Cycle
In this chapter you will learn:
• The three elements which make up the data processing
cycle.
• The difference between data and information
The data processing cycle
CDP software deals with the data in the following order:
Collection; Preparation; Input; Process; Storage and
Output. This is known as the Data Processing Cycle.
In most CDP applications the software deals with each of
these in turn. Once it has finished with the output it returns
to the collection stage to repeat the cycle endlessly.
Data Collection
Data INPUT
Preparation
DATA
Data Output
OUTPUT DATA
Data Input
Data Storage
PROCESS DATA
Data Processing
None of the processes require long complex calculations so
each input can be processed and sent to the output quickly so
the cycle can be completed at high speed allowing the huge
amount of data to be processed quickly by a large number of
users.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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The difference between data and information.
Humans deal with information.
If you were told that a wall was 2 metres high, you would
know that that is much higher than 2 centimetres. This is
because our brains can make sense of the statement – it
contains information that means something to us.
Computers deal with data.
A computer has no idea what a metre or a centimetre is.
Data has no meaning.
Computers work best with numbers. To make it easy for
computer programs to work with data, we usually turn
information into data in the form of numbers.
For example:
Information
Data
Tin of soup
Holiday to Majorca
Herald newspaper
Lord of the Rings DVD
SQA Exam number
5 1/2 miles
000157062802
72463129
9770965943612
5017239191695
04203512386
5.5
Even music is reduced to a very long series of numbers as a
MP3 file, or a DVD video as an even longer series of numbers
in a MPEG2 file to store and process them in a computer.
We depend on the programs to turn this data back into
information for us to understand and use.
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Homework / Written Exercise 3
1
Complete the following diagram of the Data Processing
Cycle.
Data __________
Data __________
Data __________
Data _________
Data _________
Data _________
2
What is the difference between information and data?
3
How is data represented inside a computer’s memory?
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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CDP4 – Data collection, preparation
and input
In this chapter you will learn about
• Data collection and preparation
• The most common forms of data preparation
• Checking that the data has been entered correctly
Data collection and preparation
Humans make mistakes. When a thousand people are typing
data into a computer using keyboards there will be lots of
mistakes. In business these mistakes cost money to correct.
Where ordinary members of the public have to supply
information for the computers (data collection), this
information is usually turned into data in advance for them
(data preparation), otherwise there is a very good chance
that errors will be made when the data is input to the
computer.
These data preparations must be simple, reliable and
accurate. Most do not depend on humans to enter the data
by hand, instead some sort of ‘reader’ is used.
Six common forms of data preparation
1
Bar Codes
A series of black and white lines which can be
read by a scanner and turned into a 13 digit
number. Almost all goods in our shops are
marked with a bar code to identify them.
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The first two digits are the country, the next five the
company that makes the item, the next five represent the
item itself and the last digit is a ‘check digit’. The check
digit makes sure the data has been scanned correctly.
2
Magnetic Stripe
AUTHORISED SIGNATURE
If found, please hand this card into the nearest bank
or Police Station
Plastic credit and cash cards have a stripe of magnetic
tape, similar to video tape, stuck to the back of the card.
This holds the bank, branch and the account number of the
owner.
It does not hold the person’s name or their Personal
Identification Number (PIN) which is need to withdraw
money or how much money is in their account. Magnetic
Stripe Cards are now easy to forge.
3
Optical Mark Recognition (mark sense)
National Lottery Entry Ticket
Use a dark pen or pencil to completely blacken out six (6)
numbers and hand to the seller for entry into the terminal.
[ 0] [ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] [ 7] [ 8] [ 9]
[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
[30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]
[40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49]
Lottery tickets, and Pools coupons depend on the user
marking the entry form with dark marks which block out
numbers printed on the form. These marks are then read by
a machine. This gives a very fast and reliable method of
entering simple data into the computer.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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4
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)
,19
63-41-53
Bishopbriggs High School Savings Bank
Pay
or order
£
A. N. Other
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The line of numbers at the bottom of a bank cheque is
printed in special magnetic ink. This can be read by a
machine with great accuracy and also by humans. The
operator only has to enter the value of the cheque. The bank
sort code, the account number and the cheque number are
read by the machine.
5
Smart Card
This is replacing magnetic stripe cards for credit cards and
bank cards. These have a tiny computer (or ‘chip’)
embedded in the card which contains the same data as the
magnetic strip, but they are much more difficult to forge.
When used to buy goods, instead of the user signing the
receipt, they enter a four digit pin – hence the term ‘Chip and
pin’.
These may eventually be used as a national identification
card which would hold a vast amount of information about
you including your finger prints, details of your iris, your
face and your medial record. They might be used as driving
licences and passports.
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6
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Most plain text fonts can be read easily by a machine.
‘Styled’ text, such as italic or underlined, can be read by
machine but there is a greater chance of mistakes being
made. Optical Character Recognition is used by the Royal
Mail to read typed post codes on letters and parcels and
route them automatically to their destination.
All of these 6 methods of data preparation have these
features in common:
• They can be read directly into a computer by a scanner
• They can be read at high speed
• They can be read without error
Checking the data for errors
Using these preparations means that data can be entered
accurately at very high speed into a mainframe computer
system. They eliminate most of errors caused by humans
entering manually typed data.
The use of further simple checks on data can detect errors,
especially for data that has to be typed in manually.
Verification
Verification ensures that data has been entered correctly.
When you change your password on a computer system, you
will be asked to enter it twice. The new password is only
recognised if both match. This is called double entry
verification.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Validation
Validation ensures that data makes sense.
Common validation checks are:
Range check
Is the number entered within a certain range?
For example: a month must be in the range 1 to 12, any other
numbers would be outside of the range and indicate an error.
Length check
Have the correct number of characters been entered?
For example: credit card numbers must be made up of 16
digits – any more or less would be an error.
Check digit
This is calculated from the series of numbers and added on
to the end.
For example: this is added to all barcodes. If the lines in the
bar code become damaged then when the check digit is
calculated it will not match the one on the end indicating an
error in reading the barcode.
It also produces an error if the barcode is scanned upside
down – so the program will reverse the code and try again –
this allows bar codes to be read upside down as well as right
side up.
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Homework / Written Exercise 4
1
Complete the following sentences using these words:
sense
bar stripe code mark
magnetic
a)
The pattern of black and white lines found on most
supermarket goods is known as a ____ _____.
b)
To use a bank cash machines you need a _________
_______ card.
c)
Entries to the National Lottery are made on _______
_______ cards.
2
Give 3 reasons why banks use Magnetic Ink Character
Recognition to read their cheques?
3
Describe 3 ways of checking data for errors.
4
i)
ii)
Describe a ‘Smart Card’. (Credit)
List 3 uses for a smart card.
5
i)
ii)
Describe ‘Optical Character Recognition’. (Credit)
List 3 uses for OCR.
6
i)
ii)
Describe ‘verification’. (Credit)
Why are passwords verified using double entry?
7
i)
ii)
Describe ‘validation’. (Credit)
Why is it important to make sure that data is valid
before it is processed?
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Mid-Unit Questions
1
Briggs Super Stores are opening a new store.
a)
Use some of these words to complete the following
sentences:
customers
calculating
Smart
speed
databases
volume
range
Magnetic
repetitive
terminals
mainframe MICR
management wages
data
stock
i)
The store will use a _________ computer to carry out
the tasks such as _________ customer’s bills, keeping
control of the ______, calculating employee’s _____
and keeping in touch with its __________.
ii)
Most of these tasks are simple, __________
calculations carried out on a huge ________ of data at
high ______.
iii)
The Point of Sale _______ will have to be able to deal
with Bar Codes, ________ Stripe Cards, ______
Cards and Cheques as well as cash.
iv)
Most of the CDP software depends on using _______.
b)
In a Bar Code, which digit is the check digit and what is
its purpose?
c)
What other check would be performed on a bar code?
2
A range check can be performed on the month part of a
date – would this be verification or validation? What
check would be performed? (Credit)
3
Why does the store prefer their customers to use ‘smart
cards’ to pay for their goods instead of magnetic stripe
cards? (Credit)
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CDP5 – Data processing, storage and
Output
In this chapter you will learn about
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interactive processing
Random (or direct) access
Multi-user access
Making backups
Sequential access
Data output
Interactive processing
With Interactive Processing the computer updates its
data files immediately after an input is made
For example:
When you buy items in a supermarket, as each item is
scanned, its cost is added to your bill and the number of that
item kept in the stock file is reduced by 1.
When this happens we say that the files have been updated.
Updated
The data held in files is changed to keep the files accurate
and up-to-date.
Interactive processing is only possible if the files are stored
on Hard Disk media. This is because hard disk drives
allow fast, random (or direct) access to the stored data.
Random (or Direct) Access means data can be loaded
and stored in any order from any area in the storage media.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Fast random access by hard disk drives gives one more
advantage, it allows many users to access the data held on
the disks.
Multi-user Access allows many people to use the same
data files at the same time.
Output
After processing data may be output in three different ways:
To Screen
The results of the processing are displayed on a computer
screen. This is the most common form of output. However
this does not create a permanent record of the output.
To Paper
The results of the processing are printed out on paper. We
are being encouraged to use screen output to check our bank
balances, telephone bills, power bills, etc because this saves
paper and is environmentally friendly and it saves the
companies money on materials and postage – but important
information must be printed to create a permanent record.
To File
The results of processing are saved to another data file. This
is used when the saved data will be reused. For example:
Companies calculate their payrolls and save the results to a
data file (usually on magnetic tape media). This data file is
given to their bank where it is used as an input to transfer
what each employee has earned from the company’s bank
account to each employee’s bank account.
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Backup
All data users must make sure that their data is protected.
All commercial users make sure that they ‘backup’ their data
on a regular basis.
Making a regular sequence of backup copies is called File
Ancestry.
These backup copies are always kept in a safe location away
from the original data.
It is usual to make backup copies onto Magnetic Tape
media.
Magnetic tape drives have sequential access. This makes
them unsuitable for interactive processing, but ideal for
holding backup copies of data files.
Sequential Access means that the data must be read back
in the same order as it was written. i.e. item 1, item 2, item
3, etc.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
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Homework / Written Exercise 5
1
Complete the following sentences using these words:
screen
update
paper
changed file
up-to-date accurate backup safe
copy
a)
An _______ is when a file is ________ to keep its
data ________ and ________.
b)
A ________ is a ______ of a file which is kept in a
______ place away from the original _____.
c)
The most common form of output is to the ______.
d)
If you want a permanent record then information must
output to _______.
2
Describe what is meant by ‘Interactive Processing’.
(Credit)
3
What type of media is used with Interactive Processing.
4
Describe what is meant by ‘random (or direct) access’ to
data.
5
What other benefit does random access have when
magnetic hard disc drives are used to access their
media?
6
What type of media is usually used to make backups?
7
Describe how sequential access is used to store the data
on a Magnetic Tape media during a backup.
8
Describe a circumstance when output is made to a file
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
CDP6 – Social Implications
In this chapter you will learn about
• Effects on business
• Job and career opportunities
• Computer crime
Effects on business
The aim of every business is to make a profit.
Computers help companies make larger profits because:
• Orders can be processed faster than manually
• It is easy to keep large numbers of customers in touch
with the company, keeping them up-to-date with new
items and offering sales promotions to generate new
business.
• Enquiries can be dealt with quickly and effectively if all
the relevant information can be displayed on a screen
by the person dealing with the enquiry.
Companies that offer their customers good service tend to
get repeat business and be recommended to others
generating more business.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
25
Jobs and Career Opportunities
The introduction of computers has meant that companies
must now employ new staff trained to deal with them.
Systems Analyst
The Systems analyst is in charge of the computer software.
The analyst decides what new software is needed or when
existing software needs updated. The analyst will design the
new software and any changes that have to made to existing
software. The analyst must then test the new software to
ensure it works correctly before the company puts it into use.
The analyst is in charge of the programmers.
Programmers
The programmers turn the designs for new software into
code for the analyst.
Engineer
The engineer is in charge of the computer hardware,
recommending new hardware and maintaining existing
hardware and repairing it when it breaks down.
Network Manager
The network manager is responsible for keeping the flow of
data to and from the work stations to the mainframe
computer as trouble free as possible. The network manager
controls the access to the network by means of setting the
user IDs, passwords and the access privileges of each user on
the network (what data files they can open, what programs
they can run, what Internet access they will have and their
printer usage).
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Computer Crime
Unfortunately, the use of computers has created a whole
series of new crimes. Some examples you may have heard
about are:
• Fake web sites advertising offers that are ‘too good to
be true’. These accept payments and then do not
deliver any goods in return. Once the criminals have
made enough money they and their web site ‘disappear’.
Only buy from reputable companies!
• Identity theft: Criminals steal details of credit card
numbers (and whole identities of people) and then use
these to make purchases for themselves in that person’s
name leaving the victim to pay. Shred credit card and
bank statements when you are finished with them.
• Credit card cloning: The details on credit or debit
card can be copied and them many duplicate cards
made. These are distributed around the world and used
to make purchases. Change to a ‘Chip and Pin’ card
that is harder to copy.
• Premium line rerouting: unprotected PCs are
vulnerable to having to a small program loaded from
the Internet which the next time the user connects to
the Internet with a modem, instead of going to their
usual Internet Service Provider, they are redirected to a
different one, often in an other country, which charges
premium rates (£1.50 per minute!) for the telephone
connection. The user will know nothing about this until
they receive their telephone bill (up to 3 months later!)
Doesn’t work with ‘broadband’.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
27
• Denial of Service attacks: Companies which depend
on the Internet for their business are blackmailed into
paying money to criminals or their web site will receive
so much traffic that it will shut down preventing the
company from trading. Large companies can use
special security systems to prevent this – but only
large companies can afford them!
• Writing or releasing malicious computer
programs: ‘Viruses’, ‘Worms’, ‘Trojan horses’ and
‘Spyware’ can severely disable a computer system or
slow the Internet down to a slow crawl as they spread.
Keep the security software on your computer up-todate and active.
• Hacking: Accessing someone else’s computer files
without permission. This is committed either to read
their files to steal information, change the contents in
their favour or to delete files to make problems for the
victim. A good active firewall can prevent this.
Computer criminals can be very hard to catch.
• The criminals do not need to be at the scene of the
crime – so they leave no forensic evidence.
• Crimes can be carried out from a different country that
has poor control over Internet access making them hard
to trace.
• Crimes may not be noticed for several months – by
which time the criminals are long gone.
• Many victims can be targeted at once, using ‘zombie’
PCs which have been ‘taken over’ by the criminals – The
owners probably will not know that their PC is being
used.
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
Homework / Written Exercise 6
1
Complete the following sentences using these words:
Enquiries quickly
customers orders new
a)
CDP will help a business increase it profits because
_______ can be processed ________.
b)
It is easy to keep in touch with a large number of
_________ telling them of special offers and new
products to generate ____ business.
c)
_________ can be dealt with quickly.
2
What is the job of the following people?
i)
Network Manager
ii) Systems Analyst
iii) Engineer
iv) Programmer
(Credit)
3
Which law makes ‘hacking’ and writing and releasing
malicious software illegal?
4
Describe 4 other common computer crimes and state a
precaution to be taken for each of them.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
29
CDP 7 – Technical and Economic
Implications
In this unit you will learn about:
• E-commerce
• Costs
• Dealing with a mass market.
E-commerce
E-commerce is the ability to buy and sell goods
electronically using the Internet.
• Companies such as eBay let anyone buy and sell goods
over the Internet. Goods are posted with a
recommended price and people bid for them over a set
period of time – whoever offers the highest price buys
the item.
• All of the large superstores offer Online Shopping
where the customers can browse their goods on the
company’s web site, choose their goods and have them
delivered directly to their home. Internet buyers are
often offered special discounts.
• All of the large banks offer Online Banking. Clients
can check their bank statements, pay bills, transfer
money from one account to another and arrange loans
through a secure Internet connection. Some banks only
operate online – they have no branches so their costs
are lower – so they can offer higher rates of interest
then the ‘high street banks’.
All of this is only possible because of Electronic Funds
Transfer.
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
Electronic Funds Transfer allows bills to be paid by the
computers without any real money changing hands.
Most bank customers arrange for their regular bills such as
telephone, gas, electricity, insurance, TV licence and council
tax to be paid automatically at set times each month.
Provided there is enough money in the bank account each
bill is deducted from the account and added to the
company’s account to pay the bills.
Modern Internet banking allows anyone to set up an Internet
account with their bank and pay most of their bills this way
as well as transferring money between different accounts.
This can be carried out from anywhere in the world provided
they have Internet access.
Debit Cards let us take this one stage further. Most large
shops use Point of Sale terminals instead of cash registers
today.
The Point of Sale (POS) terminals are shop ‘check-outs’
which are connected directly to the shop’s mainframe
computer and also to the bank secure network.
When a debit card is used to pay, it is first checked it is not
stolen or out of date and the correct ‘pin’ is entered. Then the
shop’s mainframe computer contacts the customer’s bank to
check if there is enough money in their account. If there is,
then the cost of the goods is deducted from the customer’s
bank account and added to shop’s bank account. This is
sometimes known as EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at
Point of Sale).
In addition, because this is a computer terminal, each of the
goods bought is subtracted from the stock file in the shop, so
the shop ‘knows’ exactly what is in stock at any one time and
can order replacements before the stock runs out. It will also
update its financial file.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
31
Economic Implications
Setting up an E-commerce company is expensive.
A large company has to:
• Buy the hardware (computers, point of sale terminals,
printers, networking, printers, terminals, etc)
• Buy the software (web servers, web design software,
stock control, financial control software, etc)
• Lease a very fast Internet connection (many times faster
than household ‘broadband’.
• Employ specialist Web Designers to create the online
site.
• Employ Engineers to set up the hardware
• Employ Network Managers to control the network
• Employ Systems Analysts to design the software so it all
works seamlessly together
• Employ Programmers to write the code for the
software.
• Arrange for delivery of the goods.
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
Once set up there are running costs:
• Maintenance of the hardware
• Paying for consumables (printers need ink or toner and
paper, magnetic tapes for making backups.)
• Paying the Web designers to keep the site up-to-date
and ‘fresh’.
• Continuing to lease the Internet connection.
• Paying the staff (Network Manager, Systems Analyst,
Programmer and Engineers) to maintain the systems.
• Upgrading the hardware and software as technology
improves or the company wishes to add new services.
• Delivering the goods to their customers.
Large companies like E-commerce because it gives them
access to a much bigger market (the mass market) and
generate more sales and more profit.
Small companies can also take advantage of E-commerce.
One person can set up a business from home, working with a
simple desktop computer using ready-made E-commerce
software and leasing a business broadband connection for
not much more that the normal household connection.
These one-person companies tend to offer specialist services
such as web-site design (They receive their contracts over the
‘net, produce the site and deliver it back to their clients over
the ‘net.) Others might make specialist goods like fishing
flies, which are made to order in very small numbers and
then posted to the clients all round the world.
E-commerce lets both large and small companies get access
to the mass market boosting their sales.
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
33
Homework / Written Exercise 7
1
Complete the following sentences using these words:
mass
E-commerce market
online
network
banking hardware
Internet engineer systems
analyst programmers manager deliver shopping
a)
____________ is the ability to buy an sell goods
electronically over the Internet.
b)
_______ ___________ lets customers choose goods
on a web page and have them delivered to their home.
c)
Online ________ lets customers pay their bills and
move money from account to account over the Internet.
d)
To set up online shopping, a large company must first
buy the ________, lease a fast _______ connection,
hire __________, ________ _________,
__________ and a ________ ________. Finally
they must make provision to ________ the goods.
e)
E-commerce gives large and small companies access to
the _____ _______.
2
What is meant by ‘Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)’?
3
How is EFT carried out in large shops?
4
List 3 running costs of maintaining an E-commerce
business.
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
CDP 8 – Security and Privacy
Implications
In this unit you will learn about:
• The need to keep data accurate and private
• Physical and software security measures
• The use of customer lists
Data Protection Act, 1998
The Data Protection Act, 1998, sets out how the use of
information about people can be used.
You studied this in unit 3 (Introduction to General Purpose
Packages), so it is summarised here.
Companies and organisations keeping personal data must
ensure that the data they keep is accurate and private.
• Companies and organisations will regularly ask to
confirm information is correct.
• Any individual has the right to see and check
information held about them. If they can prove the
information is incorrect then the company or
organisation must correct their records.
• Information can only be accessed by the people who
need to work with the information.
• Information can only be used for the purpose for which
it was originally collected.
In addition the organisations or companies must keep the
data secure.
• All data is backed up regularly and the backups kept in
a secure location away from the originals.
• Antivirus software is active and kept up-to-date
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
35
• The computers are kept in locked areas so only
authorised people can use them.
• Each computer has a physical lock so only the key
holders can use it.
• User IDs and passwords are needed to access files.
• Data can be encrypted to make it unreadable.
• An active firewall is used to prevent access through the
Internet.
Customer Lists
Every company keeps list of all of its customers. It will send
advertising directly to them to inform them of new products
or special offers and perhaps generate more business.
Customers giving personal details for the first time must be
informed what their information will be used for.
For Example: The company could make money by selling its
customer list to other companies. However, before they can
do this, the customers must have given their permission for
their details to be passed on. This is usually in a statement in
the ‘small print’ stating that if you do not tick the box
opposite you give the company permission to sell this
information. The ‘small print’ can be very small, but not so
small that a person with normal eyesight cannot read it
without the help of a magnifying glass!
Companies that have bought customer lists may not contact
people on the list by, mail, telephone, fax or e-mail if that
person has signed up to a ‘preference service’.
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies
Homework / Written Exercise 8
1
Complete the following sentences using these words:
people
collected see
private
prove
purpose confirm corrected
a)
A company can ensure the data it holds about
_______ is accurate by asking customers to
_________ their details from time to time.
b)
An individual has the right to ____ any information
held about them and have it ___________ if they
_____ it is wrong.
c)
A company will keep information ________ by only
allowing certain people access to files.
d)
Companies can only use information about people for
the ________ the data was _______.
2
Which Act governs the use of ‘personal information’ ?
3
Describe 4 ways a company can keep personal data
secure.
4
What 3 benefits are there for a company to keep a list of
its customers?
5
Why is it important to read the ‘small print’?
6
What is the benefit to a company of buying a customer
list?
7
How can individuals reduce the amount of junk mail,
faxes, e-mails and telephone sales calls?
Unit 6 – Commercial Data Processing
37
End of Unit Questions
1
Use some of these words to complete these sentences:
Internet
mass
online
safe
market
shopping
screen
updated backup regular
permanent paper
help
tutorial ticket
a)
A series of _______ copies should be made on a
________ basis and kept in a ____ place.
b)
When a change is made to file it said to be ________.
c)
Output to ______ is used more than output to _____,
but the paper copy gives a __________ record.
d)
Online _______ and ______ banking are examples of
E-commerce.
e)
E-commerce helps small companies reach a much
bigger ____ market.
f)
Initial costs can be quite low for a small company using
E-commerce, just needing a computer, software and an
________ connection.
2
Why is ‘interactive processing’ used at point of sale
terminals?
3
What jobs would be created to use CDP in a large store?
4
Apart from random access, what other benefit does
using a hard disk drive bring to interactive processing?
(Credit)
5
a)
How is the output from the store’s payroll program
prepared for delivery to a bank? (Credit)
b)
Why does the bank prefer its data this way?
(Credit)
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Bishopbriggs Academy - Standard Grade Computing Studies